A repeat felon who took a Mercedes-Benz owned by a Butler County woman for a test drive and never returned will spend 2½ to 6 years in state prison.

The defendant, 52-year-old James E. Kaye of Lycoming County, is no newbie to the justice system — he’s already spent most of his adult life behind bars.

But there was really no way the victim, Cindy Sue McKnight, could have known that when Kaye responded to her advertisement offering for sale a 1989 Mercedes-Benz for $2,200.

McKnight on May 5 agreed to meet the would-be buyer at a gravel lot off Route 422 in Franklin Township.

The defendant, according to court records, arrived at the rendezvous in a 1997 Mac truck he’d stolen out of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County.

McKnight accompanied Kaye on the test-drive. But at some point along the drive, the defendant pulled over and asked to pop the hood and take a look at the engine, according to court records.

With McKnight got out of the car, Kaye slammed the hood shut, got into the driver’s seat and sped away, according to court documents. The victim, according to court records, was left roadside.

But she wasn’t empty-handed: McKnight provided investigators with a description of Kaye as well as his cell phone number.

Four months later, court records say, Kaye was arrested in West Virginia, where authorities reportedly nabbed him for drunken driving — in another stolen vehicle.

Butler County Assistant District Attorney Ben Simon said he does not know why Kaye was in West Virginia or why he chose to victimize someone in this county.

“Don’t come to Butler County to commit crimes,” Simon said. “People like him are not welcome in this county.”

Kaye was extradited back to Butler, where he pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced Thursday by Butler County Judge William Shaffer.

Court records say Kaye’s previous time behind bars includes a 4-year sentence in Dallas for car theft that began in 1981 when the defendant was 19.

Within a year of the expiration of that sentence, in 1986, Kaye was charged with armed robbery in Las Vegas. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In 1997, within a year of completing that sentence, he was convicted of drunken driving in Lycoming County. In 1998, he was convicted of burglary and theft in the same county and sentenced to serve another 2 to 10 years in prison. It’s unclear when he was paroled on that case.

In 2003, he was convicted of fleeing from police. And since that time, his convictions have included drunken driving, possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest.

Most recently, Kaye was sentenced to serve 3 to 6 months for possession of drug paraphernalia. He was paroled April 19 — less than a month before the day he drove off with McKnight’s car.

In addition, Kaye was ordered to pay $617 in restitution to McKnight, $1,000 restitution to the owner of the Mack truck and $4,226 to insurance companies.